Jina Khumukam, the face of women's entrepreneurship in Manipur

Manipuri Jina Khumukam is one of the most successful women entrepreneurs in the state, and she owes all of her success to her homemade soaps.

Under the brand name 'Ma- ngal', Khumukam uses the extracts of locally available fruits for her soaps, like lemon, xylosma, aloe vera and cucumber.

A variety of soaps under the brand name of Ma-ngal are being produced with the extracts of locally available fruits like Lemon, Xylosma, Aloe-Vera, Citrus latipes and Cucumber.

The National Innovation Foundation of India recognized her work in 2007, and recently, the Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network (GIAN) has come forward to help her start large scale production and widen her market base not only in Manipur but in the entire Northeast

"My sale per day is Rs 7000 to Rs 8000. I faced few problems in the beginning, but now my business is running smoothly. Customers buy variety of soaps as per their need," she said.

Jina also employs the marginalized sections of society, like widows and those living with HIV/AIDS.

Today, she wishes to open up a show room for her products and a training centre.

Jina's daughter, Rocky said, "Earlier, people were not aware about our products but now they come to our home to buy soaps and other items. We are getting good response from them and receiving orders on phone as well."